YUP!!!

It was awesome!!!

 

It was quiet at our end of the table. I think it was really Erick and his +1 that were making all the noise.

By the way, Fitzy's called me today and said we can never go back.

 

How about the discussion where we learned of the legal ramifications of negotiating for a stick of butter in Providence but utilizing the stick of butter in Massachusetts??

 

butter.....

 

I missed some of that discussion. It's for the best, I think.

I'd like to go on believing that at the worse, butter = Meguire's wax.

 

I really hoped I was seeing things when I read the above. As one who has lost far too many friends over the years to this insidious disease, I just can't fathom any circumstance where a line like that could be funny, no matter the context. Maybe I'm missing something. But insert "breast cancer" or "lung cancer" or "diabetes" or "ovarian cancer" or any one of a number of afflictions that impact far too many people in our world. Would it be funny? I think not.

Through our Foundation, we provide very significant funding to an organization in Boston that provides "meals on wheels" services to those impacted by HIV & AIDS. As with all programs we fund, we get involved beyond just writing the checks. I've seen up close and personal the struggles of these people and the horrible death they experience. There's nothing funny about children being orphaned, parents burying their children, people losing friends, lovers, and spouses. And while we would prefer not to think about it, there but for the grace of God go every one of us.

I know all of you well enough to know without doubt that the comment was not made in any sort of malicious manner. But it should be a lesson to us all to think before we speak. And take my word, I am more than capable of making inappropriate comments. Sorry if I'm pontificating here, but it really struck a nerve.

Now $20 BJ's in Providence . . . THAT'S funny. And a hell of a deal! So who's organizing that meet?

 

This is kind of off topic from what happened here, but there is a point I think that warrants discussion on the subject you bring up..

I see where you are coming from Bruce, but I also think there is another way of looking at making light of some of the things in life we have no control over.

Often, people in the medical and service fields like EMTs, ER nurses etc.. see a LOT of gruesome and horrific stuff. Most of these providers will make fun of the stuff they see behind closed doors after the event. Guys in my line of work are certainly guilty of this as well. This is a natural response that people who are subjected to horrific stuff subconsciously use to lessen the impact it can take on the mind. Making a joke out of some guys brains on the sidewalk is much preferred to going home and blowing your own out over it. If horrible sights and events are not dealt with by the mind in SOME way, they will come out somehow or other. I have lost friends to suicide and a lot of that was due to not being able to deal with stress properly.

On the surface, I am sure making light of the guys brains on the floor seems crude and in-sensitive. However without a means of relieving the pressure from the mind, bad things happen.

 

I agree fully with what you're saying Jeff. I have buddies who are cops, EMT's, doctors, etc. To me at least, there a difference in using humor to deal with stressful situations. Other than people having seen Steve's butt crack, I just don't get the sense that there was much stress at the table.

I really didn't want to take this thread this far off topic so let's just let it drop, OK?

 

Cool.

 

Now about that Providence meet . . .